Mystery puzzle



Nov. 26, 1935.

G. R. MEYERCORD 2,022,319

MYSTERY PUZZLE Filed J uly 25, 1935 member.

Patented Nov. 26, 1935 UNITED STATES MYSTERY PUZZLE George-R. Meyercord, Chicago, 'Ill., assignor to The Meyercord 00., a corporation-of Illinois Application July 25, 1935, Serial 'No. e2,9s2

Children are always interested in decalcomanias or transfer pictures, because it appeals to their instinct totake things apart and their further instinct to decorate or ornament things, by enabling them to separate a color film from a piece of paper and use it to decorate such objects as their ingenuity -may suggest. Because it is almost certain that children will attempt to decorate furniture, walls and other things about the house which they should not, these toy decalcomanias have heretofore been more or less of a nuisance to the housewife.

The main object of the present invention is to make'it possible for children freely to use toy decalcomanias, without fear that the latter will be transferred .promiscuously to household furniture or Walls.

I attain this object by including in the decalcomanias an element of mystery, in that the entire picture or plurality of pictures cannot be seen unless the transfer is made 'toa transparent 'A child will naturally wish to find out what the whole of the picture or pictures is like. Therefore, by accompanying each decal- =comania "with a proper transparent member to which "the transfer maybe made, the child will almost invariably make the transfer 'to that member and not anywhere else.

Therefore, viewed in one of its aspects, the present invention may be said to haveJfor its object -to'- provide a'toy in the form of a decalcomania that contains an element of mystery,

together with a carrier to which the transfer may -be made and thus solve the mystery.

In-carrying out myinvention I produce in any suitable way a decalcomania comprising a gumcoated backing and a transferable member overlying the gum coating; the transferable member comprising two color films arranged back to back. Thus one of the color films li-es face up andis visible, while'the other color film lies face down on the gum coating and is concealed from View. The designs in the colorfilms are divided into numerous sections, which, in thecon'dition in which the product reaches the consumer, are

desired, the subjects may be printed in a normal, complete state and the entire decalcomam'a be then cut up into sections before reaching the consumer. The important fact is, of course, that each-transfer picture, whether in one or more 5 pieces, contains two subjects, one concealed and the other exposed, each design being in sections that must be rearranged to produce the desired appearance. The gum coating should be-such that when the device is soaked in water the trans- 10 ferable member -may be slid off and carry with it sufiicient gum to attach it to the supporting surface that is to become its final resting place.

Accompanying each such transfer picture is a Waterproof sheet of transparent material, conveniently celluloid. This sheet must be large enough-to permit-the transfer to be made there to, being preferably of the same length and width as the color -films. The picture and the transparent sheet are placed in an envelope which preferably carries a reproduction of the subject tobe formed by properlyarranging the sections of=the design on the visible or exposed color film. If the transparent-member be, for example, a sheet of celluloid, the picture or pictures upon 25 transfer attain a character of permanency and may serve-as mattersof continued interest as distinguished from the casual and fleeting interest attaching to the old types of toy transfers.

Therefore,-by choosing proper subjects and ex- 30 ecuting in an excellent manner, these toy decalcomanias may be given a definite educational value.

In solving the puzzle, the child carefully cuts the transfer'picture so as to separate the various sections from each other, if this'has not already been-done, and the various sections are thenrearranged in'the manner of a jigsawpuz'zle, until the sectionsof the exposed design form a complete subject. Each section is then soaked in 40 water to loosenthecomposite color film, and each color film is then transferred to the transparent sheet; the pieces being placed edge to edge in exinvention is characterized will hereinafter be pointed out with particularity in the claims; but, for a full understanding of my invention and of its objects and advantages, reference may be had to the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, wherein:

Figure l is top plan view of a decalcomania embodied in the present invention; Fig. 2 is a front view of a transparent sheet to which the transferable element of the decalcomania is to be applied; Fig. 3 is a front view of an envelope in which the devices of Figs. 1 and 2 are placed for distribution and sale; Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 1, showing the various layers above the paper backing broken away in step formation to expose a portion of each layer; and Figs. 5 and 6 are respectively a front and a back View of the final product'after transfer of the color films to the transparent sheet.

The manner of building up a decalcomania or transfer picture in accordance with my invention is illustrated in Fig. 4. Referring to this figure, I is a porous sheet which may be any usual or suitable transfer paper, this sheet being coated with a layer 2 of water-soluble gum. Printed or otherwise applied over the gum coating is the transferable member of the device, this member consisting of or containing two color films 3 and 4. The film 3 is placed face down and the film 4 lies face up. Ordinarily there will be a strengthening and binding layer 5 between and uniting the color films. In so far as the subject to be portrayed is concerned, the two color films are entirely-independent of each other, however. It will be seen that if the composite film' is transferred to an opaque object one subject or the other will be next to that object and be hidden; but if the film be transferred to a transparent object, both subjects are visible, one directly and the other through the thickness of the object.

If the subject intended to be shown by the film 4 appeared as a complete composition in the film itself, a child might paste this side of the device to an opaque object and remove the paper backing in order to see what is on the back side of the composite film. To prevent this and also to give added interest to the toy, the design or subject of the film 4 is divided into numerous sections which are disarranged with respect to each other or scrambled. Therefore, before a child can see what the actual picture in the visible film is, he must cut the device into sections, if it was not received in a divided state, and must arrange the sections in the proper order to form the subject or composition. Having done this, it is only natural to transfer each section of the composite film to the transparent sheet 6 of celluloid or the like, shown in Fig. 2, that accompanies each picture. Such transfer is made simple and easy by employing on the transfer paper a gum coating which is thick enough to leave on the composite film a sufficient amount to attach the film to the transparent sheet upon soaking the paper in water until the film can be slid off.

Obviously correspondingly placed areas in the two subjects to be portrayed by the two color films must register with each other in the composite film. Therefore when the sections of one film have been arranged to establish the corresponding subject, design or composition, they are also properly arranged to form the other subject.

In the drawing the two subjects are simply the letters 0 and U. The color films are shown as being divided into nine similar sections. It

will be seen that whereas the letter 0 appears plainly in Fig. 5, namely after transfer, one cannot judge what the subject or composition is by simply looking at Fig. 1 which illustrates the device before transfer. In the case of more complex subjects the effect of scrambling the sections would be even more puzzling. When the sections are arranged, preparatory to transferring them, they make up a subject or composition that appears as in Fig. 5. At this time, however, the other subject, the letter U in the drawing, still remains concealed and becomes visible only upon transferring the sections of the composite film to the celluloid; the normally concealed subject then appearing as in Fig. 6 when viewed from behind the celluloid sheet.

Each transfer picture and its accompanying celluloid sheet may be dispensed in an envelope such as the envelope 1 in Fig. 3. On this envelope there may be a reproduction of the subject that may be created by rearranging the sections of the exposed or visible color film; providing the child a guide to assist'in properly assembling the sections.

As a further aid in making up a neat final product, the transfer picture may be scored, perforated or simply marked, as indicated by the lines 8 in Fig. 1, along the lines of division between adjacent sections; and, if desired, the celluloid sheet may be marked with light lines 9 to divide it into spaces each of which is to receive a section of film upon transfer.

While I have illustrated and described with particularity only a single preferred form of my invention, I do not desire to be limited to the exact structural details thus illustrated and described; but intend to cover all forms and arrangements which come within the definitions of my invention constituting the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A mystery puzzle comprising a transfer pic- 2. A mystery puzzle comprising a transfer picture in which the transferable member contains two color films arranged back to back, whereby one of the films is. visible and the other lies face down on the gum-coated carrier, the designs in the films being divided into numerous sections which are in scrambled relation to each other and must be rearranged upon removal of the said member from the carrier to form correct compositions, together with a sheet of waterproof transparent material sufficiently large to permit said member to be transferred thereto.

3. A mystery puzzle comprising a transfer picture including a transferable member united to a porous carrier by water-soluble adhesive of such character and in such amount that, upon soaking the device in water, the said member may be removed from the carrier by a relative sliding movement and retain thereon sufficient adhesive to permit said member to adhere to a surface to which said member is to be secured, said member containing two color films arranged back to back, whereby one is visible and the other lies face down in the carrier, the designs in the color films being divided into numerous sections which are scrambled relatively to each other and must be rearranged upon removal of said member from the carrier to form correct compositions.

4. A mystery puzzle comprising a transfer picture including a transferable member united to a porous carrier by water-soluble adhesive of such character and in such amount, that, upon soaking the device in water, the said member may be removed from the carrier by a relative sliding movement and retain thereon sufficient adhesive to permit said member to adhere to a surface to which said member is to be secured, said member containing two color films arranged back to back, whereby one is visible and the other lies face down on the carrier, the designs in the color films being divided into numerous sections which are in scrambled relations to each other and must be rearranged upon removal of said member from the carrier to form correct compositions, together with a sheet of waterproof transparent material sufliciently large to permit said member to be transferred thereto.

5. A mystery puzzle comprising a transfer picture in which the transferable member contains two color films arranged back to back, whereby one of the films is visible and the other lies face down on the gum-coated carrier, the designs in the films being divided into numerous sections which are in scrambled relation to each other and must be rearranged upon removal of the said member from the carrier to form correct compositions, and markings on the transfer picture accurately indicating the lines of separation between said sections.

6. A mystery puzzle comprising a transfer picture in which the transferable member contains two color films arranged back to back, whereby one of the films is visible and the other lies face down on the gum-coated carrier, the designs in the films being divided into numerous sections which are in scrambled relation to each other and must be rearranged upon removal of the said member from the carrier to form correct compositions, at least the transferable member element of the transfer picture being in separate 5 or unconnected pieces each corresponding to one of the aforesaid sections.

7. A mystery puzzle comprising a transfer picture including a transferable member united to a porous carrier by water-soluble adhesive, said member containing two color films arranged back to back, whereby one is visible and the other lies face down on the carrier, the designs in the color films being divided into numerous sections which are in scrambled relations to each other and must be rearranged upon removal of said member from the carrier to form correct compositions}, together with a sheet of waterproof transparent material sufficiently large to permit said member to be transferred thereto, and there being on said transparent sheet markings defining spaces in each of which one of the sections of the double film is to be positioned.

8. A mystery puzzle comprising a transfer picture in which the transferable member contains two color films arranged back to back, whereby one of the films is visible and the other lies face down on the gum-coated carrier, the designsin the films being divided into numerous sections which are in scrambled relation to each other and must be rearranged upon removal of the said member from the carrier to form correct compositions, together with a sheet of waterproof material for the reception of said member upon transfer, and an envelope for said picture and said waterproof sheet, said envelope having therein a reproduction of the design on said visible film to serve as a guide in rearranging said sections.

GEORGE R. MEYERCORD. 4 

